Crossfire

Deceit. Unless Felix Francis decides to continue, Crossfire will be the 44th and last Dick Francis novel, and the fourth on which Felix collaborated with his father, who has since died. Like almost all the earlier novels, this one features a strong and sympathetic protagonist, a well-paced plot, and a mystery that untangles at just the right time. Tom Forsyth returns from service in Afghanistan following the loss of a foot in an IED explosion. He ends up at home and finds his mother distant, cold and distracted. Tom stumbles onto an extortion and blackmailing plot rooted in fraud and deceit. For the waning days of Summer, this will be perfect reading entertainment.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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The Same River Twice

Endings. Ted Mooney’s latest novel, The Same River Twice, invites readers into an artistic and philosophical journey, set in Paris. Mooney uses the moviemaking of protagonist Max Colby as a backdrop to an intellectual exploration of alternative endings to life and relationships. Max’s wife, Odile, a clothing designer, provides the plot momentum through her sideline work as a courier who smuggles Soviet-era flags out of Russia. Think of this book as the written form of a quirky foreign film that twists and turns leaving one wondering what that was all about. Patient and intelligent readers will be rewarded by Mooney’s good writing, and for feeling the brain’s engagement while reading.

Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
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Faithful Place

Secrets. Explosive emotions felt by multiple characters are never far from the surface in Tana French’s latest novel, Faithful Place. The past becomes another character, as alive and real and present as any individual. Protagonist and undercover police officer Frank Mackey finds himself back in his childhood home and gripped by the feelings that led him to flee that place two decades earlier. Secrets long held are revealed, and the pace of the story and its emotional tension will keep most readers engaged from beginning to end.

Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
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Still Missing

Dramatic. Chevy Stevens’ debut novel, Still Missing, is structured in chapters that reflect sessions that the protagonist, Annie O’Sullivan, has with her psychiatrist. At age 32, Annie was a realtor, and is abducted from an open house and taken to a remote cabin on Vancouver Island. The trauma she experienced becomes the dramatic action of the novel, and the pace remained fast from beginning to end. The deeper story of family and mothering verged on the melodramatic, but Stevens steered back from that edge every time she came close. Readers who like exciting stories and are willing to give new writers a look, will find this novel both interesting and entertaining.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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Mr. Peanut

Marriage. Adam Ross’ debut novel, Mr. Peanut, will not appeal to those readers who prefer fiction to fit into specific genre, and who like a well-told tale presented in a straightforward manner. This is also not a book that a reader can savor casually paying limited attention. Ross presents an oddly constructed and convoluted novel that requires great patience and attention. The payoff for readers willing to extend that patience comes in the form of creative, imaginative and well-written prose. Ross presents marriage in ways that I don’t think I’ve ever read or experienced. I finished the book feeling that I experienced something unique, and recommend this novel to those readers looking for something far off the beaten path.

Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
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The Lonely Polygamist

Family. Readers who like thick novels that tell stories that dig into the thicket of human behavior will enjoy Brady Udall’s 600 hundred page book, The Lonely Polygamist. Protagonist Golden Richards has four wives, twenty eight living children and a job building a brothel that keeps him away from home most weeks, leaving him as the title indicates, lonely. On page 193, Udall sums up Golden’s predicament: “He was a man with a crush on a prostitute, a condom in his wallet and gum in his public hair-what could it all mean?” Despite his lifestyle, or because of it, Golden is a likeable, bumbling everyman. His life and work, his concerns and foibles, could be those of any of us. After six hundred pages, I both laughed and sighed.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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The Rise and Fall of Bear Stearns

Blunt. Ace Greenberg’s memoir, The Rise and Fall of Bear Stearns, fits into the pattern of his earlier book, Memos from the Chairman: blunt, pithy, and sometimes humorous. In this short book (under 200 pages), Greenberg recounts his career without much detail or elaboration. This matter-of-fact style communicates his point of view with great clarity, but leaves readers with more questions than answers. For about half the book, Greenberg refutes the version of events former Bear CEO Jimmy Cayne revealed in House of Cards. The bluntness abounds in those parts. When it came to refuting Cayne’s recollection of his early compensation at the company, Greenberg’s summary was “I think not.” While Greenberg positions himself as above reproach and always interested in merit, employees, shareholders and the survival of the firm, his failure to uncover the character and shortcomings of key executives comes across as nothing short of Shakespearean tragedy.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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